Refrigerating apparatus



March 3, 1936. R, s, GAUGLER 2,032,534

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS A Filed March 29, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet l I N VE NTOR.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ms ATTORNEYS.

March 3, 1936. R. s. GAUGLER REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed March 29, 1935 uwmw S. Gaume/e,

March 3, 1936. R. s. GAUGLER 2,032,534

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed March 29, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

' ms ATTORNEY;

Patented Mar. 3, 1936 REFRIGERATIN G APPARATUS Richard S. Gaugler, Dayton, Ohio, assigner to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application March 29, 1935, Serial No. 13,72@

6 Claims. (Cl. @i2-108.5)

This invention relates to refrigeration and particularly to freezing trays used in the freezing compartment of a cooling element of a domestic refrigerator.

Flexible non-metallic trays have heretofore been used in domestic refrigerators for freezing water into a plurality of ice blocks or cubes. 'Ihese trays while being constructed to facilitate the removal of ice cubes therefrom, after the tray 10 has been removed from its support on the cooling element of arefrigerating system, have not been entirely satisfactory. For example, the exible rubber trays now in use quite frequently become bonded to cooling elements to such a degree that they cannot be removed from the element without damaging or tearing the rubber walls thereof. In other words, during certain conditions within a, household refrigerator or after prolonged operation of the refrigerating system associated therewith, a sufficient amount of moisture is condensed on the refrigerating surface of the cooling element, in the form of frost or ice, to cause the tray to become frozen in the cooling element. This frost frequently attains such a thickne as to build up around sides ofthe tray to such a heighth that the iiexible tray cannot be moved by force applied to the handle of the tray by hands of the housewife or user. Therefore to remove the trayfrom the cooling element without applying enormous force thereto or without damaging same it would be necessary to defrost or melt the ice and frost from the cooling element irrespective of whether such defrosting was desired at that particular time. My invention is directed to an improvement for facilitating removal of a flexible tray from its support on a cooling element or evaporator of a refrigerating system under the conditions explained to avoid the necessity of defrosting the element.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved tray from which the frozen contents may be easily removed and which tray may be conveniently handled either when filled with water or frozen substance.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved iiexible non-metallic tray having a reinforcing metal frame or support which will not interfere with flexing of the tray to facilitate removal of its frozen contents.

A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible non-metallic tray with a metal frame or support which, when force is applied thereto, twists one portion of the frame relative to another portion thereof to break a bond between the tray and its support on the cooling element.

A still further object ofthe present invention is to provide a flexible non-metallic tray with a metal wire frame or support which is positioned under the tray and has loose ends extending outwardly of the front thereof andtied together with a movable member adapted to be rotated to cause one of the legs of the frame beneath the tray to be elevated relative to the other leg to thereby loosen or free the tray from its support on a cooling element. 10

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown. 15

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a front View of a cooling element of a refrigerating apparatus of the household type showing trays embodying my invention supported by the element; 20

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the lines 2 2 of Fig. l through the cooling element and showing the trays in section and their supporting frame in elevation;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the 25 lines 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing the tray frame in normal position; I

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 and shows one leg of the tray frame elevated relative to the tray support on the cooling element; 30

Fig. 5 is 'a view similar to Fig. 4 and shows the opposite leg of the tray frame elevated relative to the tray support on the cooling element;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the tray and its frame; 35

Fig. 7 is a rear plan view of the tray; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 8--8 of Fig. 1 showing a knob fastened to the ends of the tray frame.

Referring to the drawings the reference char- 40 acter l0 designates an evaporator or cooling element adapted to be mounted in the food storage compartment of a household refrigerator cabinet and adapted to be connected to any suitable or conventional refrigerant liquefying and circu- 15 lating unit (not shown). The evaporator l0 is preferably of the sheet metal variety of the type disclosed in the patent to Ernest Dickey, No. 1,972,551 of Sept. 4, 1934 and includes a plurality of refrigerated walls i i forming a sharp freezing compartment I2. A refrigerated shelf I3 divides compartment l2 of evaporator l0 into a plurality of compartments and forms a fiat support for receiving receptacles or trays adapted to contain a substance to be congealed or frozen. The dot- 55 dash lines indicated by the reference character I5 in Fig. l represents a coating or layer of frost or ice which, as hereinbefore explained, forms on walls of the evaporator- I0 during certain conditions within a food storage compartment of a refrigerator cabinet or after prolonged operating of the refrigerating system connected to the evaporator. The reference character I6 designates as a whole a flexible receptacle or tray which is preferably moulded in one piece from soft flexible high grade rubber. The tray I6 has partitions I1 therein dividing the interior thereof into a plurality of longitudinal rows of separate ice-forming compartments or pockets I6. These partitions may be split a considerable distance downwardly from their top edge or they may have small openings interconnecting the pockets I8 to permit equalization of the water level in all the pockets when the tray is lled with water as is conventional and well-known to those skilled in the art.

Tray I6 has a boss I9 formed or moulded on and extending outwardly of the outer surface of the rear wall of the tray. A pair of bosses 2I and 22 similar to boss I9 are formed on and extend outwardly of. the outer surface of the front wall of tray I6. Boss I9 at the rear of tray I6 has a horizontally disposed opening therethrough. Bosses 2l and 22 each have an opening therethrough which extend upwardly at the angle. The bosses I9, 2l and 22 may be of any desired shape or form and are for a purpose to be hereinafter more fully described.

The tray I6 is adapted to be supported on and carried by a metal frame, the top plan view of which is substantially U-shaped in contour. The metal frame for tray I6 comprises a round wire member generally designated by the reference character 24 including portions extending under the tray and other portions extending upwardly along the back and front walls of the tray. The portions of wire member 24 extending under the tray I6 includes two straight portions 25 and 26 which fit in grooves 2l provided in the bottom wall of the tray and extend longitudinally therewith.

The straight portions 25 and 26 of wire member 24 are rigidly connected together by an integral inverted U-shaped portion 28 at the rear of tray I6 the yoke of which U-shaped portion extends through the opening provided in boss I3. The longitudinally extending straight supporting portion 25 of wire member 24 has an upwardly di- Afrom the front wall of the tray I6.

The wire frame member 24 is attached to the moulded flexible rubber tray I6 by forcing one of the free ends 32 or 33 thereof through the opening in the boss I9 at the back of the tray. The other portions, for example, one of the portions 29 or 3| of wire member 24 and one of the portions 25 or 26 are then pushed through the opening in boss I9 .until the yoke of the U-shaped portion 28- has been brought into registration with the opening in boss I9. It is then necessary to force the end 32 and a part of the portion 29, of the wire member 24, through the opening in boss 2|. Similarly the end 33 and a part of the ment.

portion 3|, of the Wire member 24, is forced through the opening in boss 22. 'The tray I6 is of sufilcient flexibility to permit shifting and twisting thereof without damaging same in carrying out the assembly operations described of attaching the wire frame 24 to tray I6.

After the wire frame member 24 has been attached to tray I6 the free ends 32 and 33 of member 24 are tied together. An elongated metalmember (see Figs. 6 and 8) has a plurality of openings 36, 31 and 38 provided therein and these openings are utilized for tying the free ends 32 and 33 of wire member 24 together and for attachment to member 35 of a knob or the like ele- The hole or opening 36 in metal member 35 receives the end 32 of wire memberv 24 and this end 32 is secured to the member 35 by a screw 39. The hole or opening 38 in metal member 35 receives the end 33 of wire member 24 and this end 33 is secured to the member 35 by a screw 4I. The ends 32 and 33 of wire member 24 being thus secured to member 35 are movably tied together relative to one another. A knob or the like element 43 having its circumferential surface knurled, as at 44, is provided with a cavity 45 of a contour similar to the outline of the tying member 35 is placed over the member 35 and secured thereto by a screw 46.

In the ordinary use of the device of the present invention the tray I6 is filled with water, or

any other substance to be congealed or frozen, and is then inserted in the cooling element I0 and positioned upon the freezing shelf I3 or upon the bottom wall of the evaporator. It will be noted that when the device is positioned on the support of the cooling element the bottom walls of the pockets or compartments I8 of tray I6 rest on the fiat supporting surface due to the rod portions 25 and 26 of vmember 24 being received in the grooves 21 of the tray and being ush with the bottom thereof. After the contents of the tray has been frozen the tray ordinarily becomes frozen or bonded to its support and if it is desired to remove the tray I6 from the cooling element the knob 43 of the device may be manually rotated in one direction, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, to break the ice bond between the tray and its support longitudinally along one side of the bottom of the tray. This rotating movement of knob 43 causes a' twisting force to be applied between the longitudinal straight portion 25 and 26 of member 24 and thus elevates the front part of portion 26 of member 24. The elevation of portion 26 of member 24 causes the bottom wall on one side of tray I6 to be substantially peeled from its support. To remove the other side of the bottom Wall of tray I6 from the support the knob 43 is rotated in an opposite direction, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, and this rotation of knob 43 causes a twisting force to be applied between the straight portions 25 and 26, of member 24 and thus elevates the front part of portion 25 of member 24.Y The elevation of portion 25 of member 24 causes the bottom wall on the opposite side of tray I6 to be substantially peeled from its support. Both sides of the bottom of tray I6 being loosened from its support in the manner described thus frees the tray and permits same to be readily removed from the cooling element or evaporator I0.

It is to be noted that the spaced apart straight portions 25 and 26 of member 24 of the device prevents these portions from interfering with flexing of tray I6 to remove its frozen contents after the device is removed from the cooling ele- 

